Josh Madagan

Wow – I’ve been limping along at work without my secretary and she finally came back this morning. What a relief! I can’t believe how much the whole office missed her, especially me.

Her husband was in the hospital twice for this awful salmonella poisoning. He lost 18 pounds in just 2 weeks. That is severe weight loss and it can’t be good to lose that much wieght so quickly.

She says that they only kept him in the hospital for 2 days the first time and then sent him home, but that he continued to be sick and actually got worse and she called an ambulance to take him back the second time because he was too weak to walk to the car. What a scarey terrible thing to thave to go through.

Thankfully he has recovered for the most part and she finally was able to break loose from being a nurse and home into work this morning. Actually, I told her to just make this a half day and to go home early. I’m sure she is going to be distracted worrying about him still at home and now alone. If she takes a pile of paperwork home with her she can work from home tomorrow and then hopefully come back on Monday for a full day.

On the way back through Maryland we always stop at a farmer’s vegetable stand and bring back some fresh corn on the cob and a couple of cantalopes. Something about the sandy soil on Maryland’s Eastern Shore makes it perfect for growing melons. These cantalopes are the world’s best for flavor and texture – the two things that make a melon perfect.

Unfortunately July 4th has not turned out as expected.  I am at home on my computer catching up on work!  Unfortunately the weather is terrible.  It is still early in the day so hopefully it will clear up by tonight.  I have not heard that any fireworks have been cancelled so we are hoping for the best.

Our plans to go down to DC for the day have been changed though.  Dragging 2 young children around DC in the rain is not my idea of fun.  If I asked my wife she would probably have to agree.  Recently I heard that a lot of the events that use to take place in DC have changed over the past couple of years.  They no longer have concerts with the Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Britney Spears, etc.  An article mentioned that those concerts were drawing in the wrong crowd.  DC is working towards making the 4th of July more of a family event rather than a young adult or teenage event.  I guess it doesn’t matter this year we’ll have to wait and try again next year.

This year will be our 11th wedding anniversary. We picked July 3rd to get married so that we will always be able to celebrate our anniversary with fireworks and lots of fun and happiness with our family surrounding us.

Last year we had a big party at the hotel in Crystal City where we actually got married. It didn’t cost nearly as much to throw this big party as it did to get married there, even though we had almost as many people come to celebrate with us.

This year it will be much more quiet, with just my beautiful wife and kids together at the beach. I had to make the reservations months ago and planned the beach trip as a nice surprise and part of my gift to her. I love this beachhouse – it is perfect for us – almost too big. We could have brought more people! And the best part is the internet connection.

My whole family loves to spend time at the beach and we always go home totally refreshed and happy.

I don’t know why but July has always been my favorite month.  I guess I know why for obvious reasons.  First of all the weather is beautiful.  I love summertime and being outside with my wife and children.  It is so nice to have a bar-b-que during the weekdays!  I also love July 4th which is right around the corner.

This year my wife and I have decided to go down to DC for the big celebration.  We haven’t been there in years and are hoping to make it a big celebration for our children this year.  They are finally at an age where they can walk around and appreciate the fireworks at night as well.  I’ll fill you in on a later post about our big night out.